Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Quest For a 40-Minute Game: The Maine Preview

After playing 6 OT periods in the last two games, our boys have got to be beat. But to keep up with Binghamton in the standings, we need to bus it up to Maine and take care of business.

Maine's always been kind of a middle-of-the-pack team, but the way this season is going for us, I'm not sure what to expect. You've got to think that fatigue is going to catch up with the team on a lazy Sunday like today, and that either Corey or Holland with have a bad game (In the last two games, they've played 105 and 104 minutes, respectively), but wouldn't it be great if that didn't happen?

The way I (and probably most everyone else) see it, Dennis Wolff better start utilizing the bench more if he wants to avoid Corey, John, and JOB burning out before the tournament rolls around.

A few predictions for you:

-BU will be up by 12 at half-time, and slowly let the Black Bears crawl back into it in the second half.-Corey Lowe will go 6-24 from three-point range.-Sherrod Smith gets 1 minute of play and will be lucky to score a basket.-Scott Brittain get's a double-double.-BU wins 80-77 (in OT, of course)

UPDATE (1:04 EST, 1/24/09) : Just heard on the radio that Sherrod Smith is out with flu-like symptoms. So much for that prediction.

14 Comments:

Another Matt Wolff special -- 39 minutes played, 0 points.We can hear ad nauseum about how he does all of the other things, and he did grab some rebounds and dish out some assists. But it is like playing 4-on-5 with him in the lineup, only because his papa is the coach.

If you ever talk to Coach Wolff, he honestly could give a rat's ass about Matt playing basketball. He wants to win the AE. As do the rest of the guys on the team. If you don't believe it, go up to the guy and ask him about his basketball priorities before slandering him and Matt as scapegoats for everything on this team.

We get that M.Wolff may not the best basketball player out there, but people talking ad nauseum about it in blog comments just gets old, man. Get of his and DW's case about it and give them your support rather than giving them crap for it on a regular basis. Save the hate for people who deserve it (Albany and BC fans).

This last guy is right. We just had a pretty amazing comeback from down 18 points and the first comment is about lack of scoring from Matt Wolff. It seems like some people want Matt to do bad so they can complain about it.

Well let's see....As far as a sorely depleted team goes, I could buy that if Matt wasn't leading the team in minutes BEFORE the two key injuries! Since when do seniors get the right to play no matter how bad they are? And finally, look around the country, almost ALL captains are seniors. By the two above notions, Marques should be second on the team in minutes played!

The guy who said Coach Wolff could give a rats ass about Matt playing is completely dilusional. Matt as the coach's son should get 10 minutes a game. That is what the other coaches do around the country when they have a son who really should not be there. 10 minutes is more than fair to Matt.

Thanks High Roller - good to know at least some people can see through the slander and hate. Wolff is one of the important cogs on this team, whether his critics like it or not. Maybe it doesn't show up in his stat line as frequently as we'd all like to see, but to think that this team gets through the gauntlet of past week and a half of games without admitting some of the intangibles Wolff brings when he is on the court is just looking unnecessarily to blame him for something.

As for those of you who don't believe me about the basketball relationship of the Wolffs, you can say what you want, but your speculation is just as valid as mine. I've at least had discussions with both men about basketball, which I imagine is more than either of you can say when you assume than the Coach plays Matt only because Matt is his son. You are entitled to that belief, but it's slander since you have no evidence behind the motivations beyond how much time Matt gets on the floor - something which could also have to do with how he fits into his role on this team or a variety of other things. No one really knows but DW and the coaching staff - that's why I don't think it's appropriate to throw these two men under the bus as everyone seems to do on a pretty regular basis. To continue to do so immediately after this team has strung together four very hard-fought wins is just hating for the sake of hating. Say what you want, but I find it to be a waste.

No evidence?Matt's play on the court is evidence enough.Matt's statistics are facts to back up that evidence.If his name was Matt Sheep, he'd be playing at Babson. He wouldn't be at BU.Four wins are most welcome, even if against mediocre America East opposition.

I think we can agree Matt Wolff may not be the best basketball player BU has, but what you've cited doesn't show anything beyond the fact you don't like either of the Wolffs. It doesn't prove he gets played because his father is the coach - there are a variety of other reasons why he could be starting and playing his role on this team over others which you fail to even acknowledge or address beyond your basic biased opinion. While I certainly won't say it's out of the realm of possibility that you're right, it's a weak and lazy argument that you don't have much proof for beyond shouting "Look at how much time he gets and how few points he scores! He makes mistakes in games!"

If that's the basis of your case, then note the following (from before the Maine game):

He's led in rebounding in 6 games this season, tied for the most of any player (with Holland).

He's led in assists in 5 games this season, third on the team (behind Lowe and Morris).

He's led in steals in 6 games this season, second on the team (behind Holland).

He's the only player this year to get a double-double.

He has the most experience playing college ball of anyone on this team.

When Morris and Strong were playing, he had a better FG percentage than Morris, and was a better defensive player than Strong.

Just some possibilities as to why he could get more playing time. But maybe his daddy, who has been to the NCAA Tournament and won America East Championships before and makes it known that he wants to again, just likes his son too much and would sacrifice his, the team's, the fans', and BU's goals so that his son doesn't have a bruised ego.

Weak.

When Corey Lowe misses pivotal free throws, no one gives him grief. When Matt Wolff makes a bad ball handling play in traffic, people are on his case even if he's played an otherwise decent game. I'm not saying he shouldn't be criticized, but if you're gonna be critical at least call it fair and don't be hypocritical.

I think we can agree Matt Wolff may not be the best basketball player BU has, but what you've cited doesn't show anything beyond the fact you don't like either of the Wolffs. It doesn't prove he gets played because his father is the coach - there are a variety of other reasons why he could be starting and playing his role on this team over others which you fail to even acknowledge or address beyond your basic biased opinion. While I certainly won't say it's out of the realm of possibility that you're right, it's a weak and lazy argument that you don't have much proof for beyond shouting "Look at how much time he gets and how few points he scores! He makes mistakes in games!"

If that's the basis of your case, then note the following (from before the Maine game):

He's led in rebounding in 6 games this season, tied for the most of any player (with Holland).

He's led in assists in 5 games this season, third on the team (behind Lowe and Morris).

He's led in steals in 6 games this season, second on the team (behind Holland).

He's the only player this year to get a double-double.

He has the most experience playing college ball of anyone on this team.

When Morris and Strong were playing, he had a better FG percentage than Morris, and was a better defensive player than Strong.

Just some possibilities as to why he could get more playing time. But maybe his daddy, who has been to the NCAA Tournament and won America East Championships before and makes it known that he wants to again, just likes his son too much and would sacrifice his, the team's, the fans', and BU's goals so that his son doesn't have a bruised ego.

Weak.

When Corey Lowe misses pivotal free throws, no one gives him grief. When Matt Wolff makes a bad ball handling play in traffic, people are on his case even if he's played an otherwise decent game. I'm not saying he shouldn't be criticized, but if you're gonna be critical at least call it fair and don't be hypocritical.

If anything, I'd say Coach Wolff is harder on Matt than any of the other players because he expects more. This is something I noticed when Matt was a freshman, which I guess was like 5 or 6 years ago.

And how do all the haters know Matt doesn't work the hardest during practice? Maybe Coach Wolff is the kind of coach who rewards the hardest-working players. Anyway, I think he's the kind of coach who tries to do whatever is best for the team.

It's known Wolff is the hardest on Scott Brittain and John Holland in practice - he's publically stated that.

Matt Wolff's playing time is a product of nepotism. There is no way anyone can convince me he deserves to play 35ish minutes a game. He's good on the defensive end, but it's 4 on 5 on offense with him in the game. He is a turnover machine.

If Pelage got as much time as Wolff he would get better stats. If Marques got to play the whole game like Matt his stats would be just as good if not better(and they were, look at the Albany game!). Matt Wolff is a garbage D1 player. He panics when there's a full court press, he can't dribble, and the only thing he contributes on the offensive end are half court shots. The teams winning but it's obviously only because Scott Brittain is back in the lineup and the team has Lowe and Holland.

Garbage on the offensive end - that's why he's second on the team in assists. Making the good pass for a bucket is as good as making the bucket. That's his role on the team - not to be a shooter like John or Corey but to make it so they can get their shots.

And while he does have a lot of turnovers (51), he's second to Corey Lowe (60). Are we gonna get on Corey's ass about it now too? I really doubt it. So give the guy a break.

If Pelage didn't foul so much, he'd get more playing time. I like to think that will definitely come with time, but right now he's a body. The kid is a freshmen, so he definitely has a bright future if he keeps developing his game.

Marques would get more playing time too, but the way the team works on the floor just doesn't click as well as when you have the five starters out there. Marques' game at Albany was a tremendous achievement where we saw a player raise the level of his game in the clutch when the team needed it. I think he's a pretty standup individual both on the court and off, but the team doesn't click as well when he's out there and they go to the 2 guard set. I don't know what BU team you've been watching if you haven't noticed that too.

Brittain only finished 2 of the last 4 wins, fouling out in both of the OT contests. He may have helped keep them in those games and played well, but he didn't win the games for them (I do believe Wolff actually sealed the UMBC game, but I don't hear much talk about him hitting two clutch free throws). While it's great to have Scott back on offense and playing back towards the level he was at last year, I wouldn't say that he is the catalyst behind the streak. He's a part of it, no doubt about it; but it's a team sport, and the team clicking right now is what has been driving their success the past week.

The team we're seeing now is one of the better I can remember, considering how the cards have been laid out for them. They have a good chance to win some pretty good games in the next week, in a wide-open conference.

Matt Wolff is not a Division 1 college player. Doesn't mean he is useless, but he's not a D1 player.A barely warm body could have similar stats with all of the playing time that he gets.

As for his father, any decent coach at a university with the institutional advantages that BU holds over the rest of America East, would have more NCAA appearances and league championships than Dennis Wolff. It's like being an 8 handicap in golf, playing in a group with 14, 20 and 28 handicaps, and being happy when you go better than .500. That is weak, and so is Dennis Wolff as a leader of this program.